Governmental Litigation

Orrick attorneys litigate both for and against federal, state, and local governmental units. These cases involve issues concerning administrative law, insurance and insurance insolvency, government contracts, procurement, and health care, among others. Orrick achievements in high-profile, successful litigation on behalf of state and local governments include:

• Governor of California. Orrick successfully represented the Governor of California in litigation involving admission and hiring preferences at the state university system.
• California Insurance Commissioner. Orrick has represented the California Insurance Commissioner for more than a decade in a series of cases involving the conservation, rehabilitation and liquidation of major California insurance companies, including Fremont Indemnity Company, Lifeguard Life Insurance Company, the Superior National Insurance Companies, Golden Eagle Insurance Company, and First Capital Life Insurance Company.
• California Department of Transportation. Orrick acts as special counsel to the department for its high-stakes intellectual property disputes.
• California Transportation Commission. Orrick attorneys represented the CTC in appellate litigation arising out of multimillion-dollar seismic retrofit projects.
• City and County of Sacramento. Orrick attorneys helped validate in court Sacramento’s financings, including the light rail public transit system; the city’s acquisition of the Arco Arena from the Sacramento Kings, which allowed the NBA team to stay in Sacramento; and the construction of Raley Field, Sacramento’s baseball stadium for the triple A “Rivercats.”
• County of San Bernardino. Orrick obtained a favorable settlement for the County of San Bernardino in environmental litigation against a contractor attempting to build a waste to energy plant in Ontario, California.
• Arvin-Edison Water Storage District. Orrick obtained a significant federal court trial victory for this Kern County, California-based public agency against a contractor who sold defective concrete reinforced pipe for the Intertie Pipeline that links the district to the California Aqueduct.
• City of Los Angeles. Orrick obtained court approval for the City’s involvement in construction of a new hotel at the downtown Convention Center.
• City of New York. An Orrick litigator acted as a City-appointed, independent fiscal monitor of the Feast of San Gennaro, which now contributes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually to New York area charities.